Bought a Zune HD 32gb for S&Gs, what now?

[GodisanAtheist]

So my local Microcenter was burning off their Zune HD's (they've probably had the same two units in stock since they were first introduced). $79.99 for the 16gb version, $95.99 for the 32, so naturally I went for the 32gb version. I've already got an 8gb Ipod touch that does the MP3 player/mobile internet device thing pretty well, but its been a while since I've made any kind of materialistic impulse buy and I have money practically backing up in the bank so what the hell. If nothing else, $100 bucks for a nice 32gb player is a sweet deal and it can be gifted as a last resort.

Here is the thing: What now? I was kinda hoping there would be some kind of Android or WinMo7 hack for this little guy but thus far my google fu as failed me pretty hard. There seems to be a lot of talk, but no real developments and at this point I doubt there ever will be.

If this thing can get a real OS on it, I would boot my Ipod out the window. Zune's stylish as hell, got some real horsepower with the Tegra under its hood and is a little more compact than its apple competition. Hell if Microsoft had actually put some shoulder behind this guy in the app & marketing department it could have really grown into something. I just don't understand how they could put so much effort into such a nice little gadget from the hardware (and UI for that matter) side of things and so completely fumbled the ecosystem support.

Anyhow, there it is. Any suggestions/leads on turning it into something more or just give it to my old man for his b-day?

 

[Nebor]

I'd just give it away.

I love mine, but it doesn't seem right for you.

 

[IGemini]

It's a nice little device, my brother gave me his 32GB HD just recently. Microsoft really gimped the hardware capabilities with the operating software and they're actually worse than Apple with locking down the Zune software, but OpenZDK is your best bet. You won't get a different OS on that player, but they have a small pool of official useful apps you can put on it plus more open-ended possibilities.

 

[theeedude]

It plays Xvids, so put some videos on it.

 

[QueBert]

MS dropped the ball on the Zune HD big time, I don't care that they never said "we'll launch an under app store for it!" the fact it was so capable and they didn't do shit with it was depressing. The fact you got a 32 gig for $95 when they were $230+ just months ago says it all. There is some hacking you can do to install some home brew games and a few apps, but unless the scene has improved 100% in the past 6 months I wouldn't even bother.

$95 is a hellova deal though, which MC was this?

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Well the replies so far have been pretty disappointing, but if the weren't then I probably wouldn't have snagged this puppy so cheap.

Quebert: Its the Microcenter in Tustin, CA. They had a grand total of 4, 2 32gb ones and 2 16gb ones. I bought 1 32, my friend bought the other one, then one of my coworkers bought a 16gb one. So there is probably one still left.

 

[Tristicus]

The Zune is an amazing device IMO, better than the iPod for SPECIFICALLY music. I love the layout, the software has grown amazingly from what it used to be, and I wouldn't consider dropping the brand unless something new and way better released. I am looking to get a 80gb/120gb soon to upgrade my old 30gb.

 

[TheStu]

As much as I like the players, I cannot stand the software. OP, if you like iTunes even a little bit. If you use smart playlists and like how it will search as you type and any number of other things, then the Zune software will probably really irk you.

That being said, the Zune HD PLAYER is a great little piece of kit. Very light, I really like the industrial design (the 'home' button on the front could be a little bigger), and the swipe controls when listening to music are great.

 

[hanoverphist]

i keep my zuneHD in my car for playing music. i also have a bunch of movies loaded on it, the dock has HDMI out as well as rca, so i take it to friends houses on occasion for movie nites. i also have all 12 of the games loaded on it, kids will use it sometimes as well. i tried the hacking thing too, but there was never much support or really cool things to do with it so i gave up. overall, i love it. i wish it had gone somewhere. if youre not going to use it, gift it to someone else.

 

[Deeko]

tether it to a phone and use SmartDJ + ZunePass everywhere. Awesome.

 

[Nebor]

i keep my zuneHD in my car for playing music. i also have a bunch of movies loaded on it, the dock has HDMI out as well as rca, so i take it to friends houses on occasion for movie nites. i also have all 12 of the games loaded on it, kids will use it sometimes as well. i tried the hacking thing too, but there was never much support or really cool things to do with it so i gave up. overall, i love it. i wish it had gone somewhere. if youre not going to use it, gift it to someone else.

Yup, I leave mine in the car, plugged in, so when I pull in the garage every night it wirelessly syncs with my Zune software, just like my Windows Phone 7.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Alright decided to open up the Zune box and use it myself as a travel device thanks to the space it offers. A few thoughts:
-the screen flickers while web browsing. Honestly this thing just isn't very good at browsing. Had the internet lock up forcing a hard reboot on one occasion and the zunes need to load the entire page before it can really zoom in to an specific spot.
-kinda awkward to hold with headphones plugged in. Could have used a quarter inch in every direction.
-really like the interface. Nice and clean.
-good music player but that should be expected.

On the whole the Zune is definitely inferior to the iPod in almost every way (notable exception is aesthetics and ui) although one wonders if this is more the result of apples strong support of its product and microsofts abandonment of the Zune. Things could have been different.

Typed this whole thing from my ZuneHD and I gotta say a little extra screen space and shrinking the damn done button would have made this so much easier...